Gotham Academy #6 (DC Comics)

Batman has appeared on the scene and is after Killer Croc, followed shortly by the cops. However, during all of this, something snaps within Olive and the whole old building suddenly bursts into flames. In the chaos, Olive escapes with Croc and then the two talk.

Gotham Academy #6 was a decent issue to wrap things up on, as it concludes most of the plotlines that have been building since the beginning and leaves a few doors open to be explored in the future. It also introduces a few new elements and aspects that could be interesting to explore when the comic book returns (though sadly one of them was spoiled due to promotional material and announcements for the book, which is too bad — would have been a really cool surprise). It’s a decent issue overall, but it feels a bit lacking in some ways as well…

… such as how certain situations were resolved and handled. The situation with Olive’s mom doesn’t feel all that resolved, the Millie Jane Journal situation seems to be done and over with kind of abruptly for the time being, the relationship issues between Kyle and Olive are just kind of wrapped up all of a sudden, and Olive’s roommate suddenly transfers out of the school (which might have had a bigger effect if we spent some more time with her). It just feels like some of the story’s resolution wasn’t as strong as it could be.

The writing by Becky Cloonan and Brendan Fletcher was fine for the most part. The pacing was decent and the characterization felt on point for everyone, carried by some real emotional and sweet moments throughout. There was a small bit of humor (in comparison to previous issues), but it was still decent. The only real problem with the writing was there were some awkward transitions between scenes. The biggest one was where Olive is walking back to the dormitories with her friends, still nighttime and in her party dress; but the next scene immediately shows her on the roof of the dormitory in her full uniform with Batman. It felt abrupt, like we missed something.

Two artists work on the issue, Karl Kerschl and Mingue Helen Chen, and both of them do a pretty good job. Chen does the flashback bits and the final scene of the book, which all look very good. There’s a painterly feel to her work and the style feels right at home with the tone the book is trying to convey. Karl’s linework is good as always, but his part of the artwork has the most issues. Two colorists work on his stuff, Msassyk and Serge Lapointe, and both of their coloring styles are fine but don’t work well together. One has a much lighter style that makes the lines more prominent and the other’s style is more consistent with the rest of the series. Again, neither are bad, but just don’t work too well with one another.

Is It Good?

Gotham Academy #6 is a decent conclusion to the first storyline, but not without its own little problems. The writing is good and the story wraps up nicely, but the inconsistent coloring and conclusions to some of the plotlines leave a bit to be desired. Still, it was a good issue regardless and I look forward to where the comic is going in the future.